Chinese social media platforms Weibo, WeChat and Douyin’s real-name authentication rule for influencers to benefit operations amid tightened online regulation, analysts say

WeChat, Douyin, Kuaishou and Bilibili on Tuesday asked users with at least 500,000 followers to disclose their actual names in their profile page
They followed Weibo’s initiative last month, making it mandatory for influencers with a large number of followers to reveal their real identities

Social media

Ben Jiangin Beijing

Published: 9:30pm, 1 Nov 2023

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Efforts by mainland China’s largest social media operators to get popular influencers to display their true identities online are expected to benefit these platforms’ operations, according to analysts, as Beijing continues to tighten its control over the world’s largest internet market.

Tencent Holdings’ WeChat, ByteDance-owned Douyin, Kuaishou Technology and Bilibili were among the major Chinese social media services that made simultaneous and similar announcements on Tuesday, asking users with at least half-a-million followers to disclose their actual names in their profile page.

That followed microblogging platform Weibo’s initiative last month, making it mandatory for online influencers with a large number of followers to reveal their real identities in spite of initial concerns about privacy.

“This [public display of influencers’ identities] will strengthen community regulation and governance for these platforms,” said Zhang Yi, founder and chief analyst at market consultancy iiMedia. “While this policy will place constraints on influencers, it will ultimately benefit the platforms.”

Chinese microblogging service Weibo last month initiated a policy that made it mandatory for users with 500,000 or more followers to post their true identities online. Photo: EPA

Weibo had introduced the policy on real-name accounts after internet regulator the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) introduced a 13-point set of rules in July to increase the management of zimeiti or “self media” – accounts that publish news and information, but are not government-run or affiliated with official media.

The 13-point rules say accurate sources must be used to provide news on domestic and international affairs, public policies and social events; fabricated stories or rumours must be marked out; and accounts must manage follower growth.

The actions taken by the country’s largest social media platforms underscore their commitment to support the CAC’s crackdown on anonymous Chinese social media accounts, following a campaign in April by the Ministry of Public Security targeting online rumours.

Over the years, China has developed an intricate system to regulate online content. The CAC in 2015, for example, issued a rule on real-name registration for users of various online services, including blogs and instant messaging.

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While WeChat, Douyin and the other major platforms said in their announcements on Tuesday that the new policy is being implemented on a voluntary basis and that influencers can opt out. Their accounts, however, will face punitive action that includes a cap on revenue and restricted access to new followers.

These platforms said they first reached out to influencers with more than 1 million followers to push forward the implementation of the new policy.

The initiatives by these platforms will help get rid of “dangerous commentary” by some influencers who only had “real-name verification on the back-office end”, said Zhang Shule, an analyst at the CBJ Think Tank.

Echoing the iiMedia analyst’s view, Zhang said the policy being enforced by social media platforms will benefit their operations, as certain “illegal and controversial topics” online would get eliminated.

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A number of influencers, however, have denounced the social media platforms’ new policy because it would expose their personal data online.

A popular Weibo finance sector influencer known as Tianjinguxia, who has more than 7 million followers, said in a post published last month that he would abandon his account if the microblogging platform enforces the mandatory display of personal information.

The influencer wrote: “I’m not leaving a peaceful life behind and exposing myself online!”

Information subject to display includes an account holder’s real name or registered business name, if an account was operated by another entity.

Lao Dongyan, a professor of law at Beijing’s prestigious Tsinghua University, asserted that mandatory exposure of personal identity online also raises the potential for cyberbullying. She said it would add more pressure to social media users when they express their thoughts and opinions online.